One of the cooler upcoming features in OS X Lion is called “Signature Capture.” Signature Capture lets users hold up a piece of paper with their signature to a Mac’s iSight camera and have it subsequently placed onto a PDF or Preview document in a specified location. The feature is a god-send for anyone who has had to physically sign a document and then either fax it to an intended recipient or scan it in and email it as an attachment. Apple notes that for best results, one should use a black pen over a blue pen.

A video of the signature capture can be seen below. This is certainly one of those features that falls into the, “Wow, that’s obvious now that I think about it” category.

Lion remains on track for a Summer release, with Apple having released a new developer preview of its next-gen OS this past Wednesday. The release was designated a golden master candidate, and in addition to addressing a number of reported bugs, the update also introduced a new design for iCal. Some of the new features planned for Lion include a revamped Mail app (which has been getting rave reviews), full screen mode for all apps, and borrowing a page from the iPads playbook, a Launchpad feature which showcases a user’s apps in grid form.

You know, this is cute but…
For years, I have used my signature that I wrote on a piece of paper and then scanned. I keep it in a very odd place with a filename and file type that disguises its contents. Whenever I need it, I just pull it out, scale it and plunk it down wherever I need it.